Product Rollout Plans - Pre-orders Later in 2014

We have been actively collecting and discussing the feedback that you’ve had to the invite system. There is still a lot of confusion around the goals of the invite system, which means that we haven’t done our best to communicate this. However, we’ve also noticed that the attitude completely changes when a user actually receives an invite.

One of the major pain points of the system lies in the anxiety of not knowing what needs to be done to obtain an invite, and the idea of spending a lot of time and effort to get one. This was not a planned side effect of the invite system, and we recognize that it is counterproductive to the great user experience of buying a OnePlus smartphone that we’re aiming for.

We want to find a solution that can both allow us to reward early fans, as well as provide a pain free and time efficient way for busy people to buy our device. Therefore, we’ll launch our devices in multiple stages: invites only with a transition into invites and pre-orders.

Initial period: Invites

The first months following our launch, we need to ensure consistency in product and service quality. We need to make sure that the product performs well, as well as fix any problems that may hinder a higher yield rate as production ramps up. At the same time, customer service and logistics also need to get ready to handle the upcoming demand, so that our users aren’t left with in a situation where service is poor. For these reasons, the devices will be sold via an invite system.

Stable period: Invites and Pre-orders

Once our business operations are on track to handle the demand, we will be able to provide more detailed estimations on when we can ship. When this happens, we will launch pre-orders in addition to invites.

If you have an invite, you’ll be able to purchase your device immediately. If you don’t have an invite, you’ll be able to pay for and pre-order your device, during which you’ll be given an estimation on when the order can be shipped. Before the order is processed, you are also free to cancel your pre-order for a full refund.

We are currently developing the pre-order functionality. Our best estimation for the launch of this functionality is Q3, but are not able to make any guarantees at this moment.

Update (June 16): Some members are interpreting this as an additional delay. This is incorrect. Nothing has changed on the production front, and a lot of people will be receiving their phones this month. This post is about what comes further down the line.

Update (June 16): Some members are interpreting this as an additional delay. This is incorrect. Nothing has changed on the production front, and a lot of people will be receiving their phones this month. This post is about what comes further down the line.

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I think this is key. Production has not changed. Loads of people will have devices by end June. I think the fact is that Forum numbers are increasing by thousands daily so of course everyone won't have a device by the end June as people joining now will be at the back of the queue (and rightly so )